Article
More doctor visits benefit hypertensive diabetes patients
In hypertensive patients with diabetes, shorter intervals between encounters with physicians are associated with a faster decrease in blood pressure and earlier blood pressure normalization, new research indicates.
Hypertension. [online] May 24, 2010. http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/HYPERTENSIONAHA.109.148791v1. Accessed June 1, 2010.
In hypertensive patients with diabetes, shorter intervals between encounters with physicians are associated with a faster decrease in blood pressure and earlier blood pressure normalization-particularly intervals shorter than those currently recommended, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. They performed a retrospective cohort study of 5,042 patients who were treated at primary care practices between 2000 and 2005. The researchers found that patients with an average interval between encounters of one month or less achieved blood pressure normalization after a median of 1.5 months, while those with an average interval of more than one month achieved normalization after a median of 12.2 months.
